Recommended Games

Driver rescued in Oregon after 12 hours trapped with corpse

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A driver who spent 12 hours trapped in the wreckage of her car with the corpse of a passenger who died after their vehicle tumbled down an embankment was rescued after a hitchhiker in Oregon heard her cries for help, authorities said on Tuesday.

Police identified the badly injured driver as Gabriela Rayon, 21 of Vancouver, Washington, and said she was transported to a Portland-area hospital. Her passenger, 23-year-old Ruth Delgado of Los Angeles, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Oregon State Police said the vehicle the pair were traveling in was found late on Sunday in trees about 40 feet down an embankment off Highway 101 near Cannon Beach, 80 miles northwest of Portland.

"It appears the crash occurred at least 12 hours before the vehicle was spotted by the hitchhiker," it said in a statement.

The statement said both women had been wearing seat-belts, and that the cause of the accident was still being investigated.